Government Gazettes and Police Gazettes are an enormously rich source of information for family historians. They can be useful for filling in some of the detail about the lives of our ancestors, and in many cases can solve mysteries.

Government gazettes contained all the administrative detail that affected the lives of ordinary citizens going about their daily lives – such as laws and regulations, licenses, land auctions and sales, unclaimed mail, and much, much more. Records of convict assignments and absconding may appear nowhere else but here. Sailors who deserted their ships are listed, as are government employees. Court notices of probate and bankruptcies, livestock brands, and petitions.

Your ancestor should be in a government gazette if he or she:

leased, purchased, forfeited land

worked for the government

tendered for public works

died

went bankrupt or insolvent

had unclaimed mail

was a convict

was assigned a convict

had a livestock brand

had a license to run a pub, sell liquor, cut timber

signed a petition

Notices of this type were published in the local colonial newspaper until a regular government publication was established:

New South Wales – 1832

Tasmania – 1825

Victoria – 1843 (Port Phillip)

Queensland – 1859

South Australia – 1839

Western Australia – 1836

Northern Territory – 1927

Commonwealth – 1901

All are still published today, although mostly online rather than printed, and with much less of interest to family historians.

Police gazettes are where the juicy stuff was going on. They were published weekly and distributed to police stations for the information of the local constabulary in order to help them with their work – describing offenders, listing licensees, and so on. Later gazettes in the early-to-mid twentieth century contain lists of known offenders with photographs, for the information of police who may come across them.

In many States publication ceased in the 1980s, as methods of electronic distribution of information became available. Some States publish them to this day, but access is still restricted.

The contents of police gazettes vary slightly by state, but they contain most of the following:

Warrants for arrest and details of crimes

Arrests, convictions, discharged prisoners

Property stolen and recovered

Stolen cattle and horses, including brands

Escaped prisoners, ship’s deserters

Missing friends

Deaths reported to police

Police appointments, instructions, lists

Magistrates, Justices of the Peace

Licensed sellers of liquor, wine and tobacco

Police Gazettes were published in the following years:

New South Wales – 1862-1982

Tasmania – 1861-1933

Victoria – 1853-1994

Queensland – 1864-1982

South Australia – 1862-present

Western Australia – 1876-present (restricted)

Northern Territory – 1900-present (restricted)

Commonwealth – 1 January 1901-present?

It is important to look for your ancestor in other colonies/states, as people travelled over the borders as easily as we do today, particularly if they didn’t want to be found.

Photo of NSW Government Gazettes from the 1850s taken by the author at the Society of Australian Genealogists headquarters in Kent Street, Sydney.

I was born in Sydney and grew up in country NSW. I've lived in Sydney since leaving school and starting university. My mother is the descendant of farmers and graziers on her father's side, and professionals on her mother's; and my father is a South Sea Islander. Read More…